Elevated Corridors - green light

Source Deccan Herald, CM Gets Cracking on City's Woes: "Yeddyurappa showed the green signal to BBMP to take up two elevated corridor projects: the 16-km North-South corridor connecting Hebbal to Madivala through Minsk Square and Vellara junction and the 12-km Bangalore East corridor connecting Kodihalli and Kundalahalli through Vellara junction..."

More on DH: Elevated corridor projects to ease traffic : "... The project has been conceived in the wake increasing traffic density in North due to International Airport at Devanahalli ... detail project report is yet to be prepared to identify location of loops along the corridor. ... Palike has found the project is the only way to provide signal-free movement of traffic between South and North. As the road will be built over existing roads the project does not require land except around Vellara Junction. The road covers Sankey Road, Bellary Road up to Hebbal ... Swiss Challenge method ... IDEB has taken up the challenge. ... already submitted technical proposal, which is being studied by the Palike... project is expected to begin in 2009 September... Yeddyurappa said the proposed project solves major traffic problems of the city."

From The Hindu: Focus on Infrastructure Development : "Yeddyurappa on Tuesday announced the construction of two high speed corridors — Hebbal to Madiwala (16 km) and Kodihalli to Kundalahalli (12 km) — to enable fast motor traffic movement in Bangalore. ... apart from the two ... corridors a section of the outer ring road, Central Silk Board Junction to Bellary Road Intersection, would be made traffic signal-free ..."

Comments

CM has gone ahead and approved two elevated roads and one on them is this. The plan to build a elevated road btw kundalahalli and kodihalli was probably set when HAL was still operational..I do not think this is a necessity at this point.

All that is needed is junction redesign and better traffic management..lets not waste resources on unnecessary plans!

Also this will turn out like the BETL ..which based on discussions here on praja itself does not have one positive feature! Lets stop building this all because of a neo rich IT moron stuck in a jam in his swanky car and blaming every one and everything under the sun apart from himself for the jam..please give him a monorail or a train!

The Elevated roads seems to be a good idea. It goes back to an earlier proposal we had about having 2 non stop corridors across the city.
Except I would be interested to find the route map for these corridors, to see how it goes through the CBD.
Maybe this can lead up to the Silkboard flyover? This way it benefits the BETL.

It will first create an absolute mess in the short term. If executed well it might make everyone feel happy in the medium term. In the long term it will only add more cars. It will also preclude any possibility of a mass transit system on these stretches. We will then be wondering whether to dig or add one more tier.

All this assumes that petrol will be still reasonably affordable 4-5 years from now. Instead of investing in MRTs we are again going car friendly. When I read blogs in the US, you can sense some frustration that people are now stuck with long commutes and no choice to take public transport, because that has been neglected. They are paying the price now.

We never seem to learn.

Srivathsa

Drive safe. It is not just the car maker which can recall its product.

I am positive based on a small note present in TOI coverage of this that tell me that public transport angle is present - there is talk of making this as a rail cum road corridor. But then, how would this elevated rail system be different from Metro? Or would this itself be Metro Phase 2 or 3. (see this picture from CTTP)

This could either kill or form part of the proposed Core Inner ring Road idea. Just a ring around CBD was not a very good idea, N-S and E-W corridors are better long term solutions. Corridors or expressways through the city only do the job of

Carrying long distance traffic across the city

Emptying people into few designated public transit or park and ride systems inside the CBD. The North South (Madivala - Hebbal) one could sure do that.

I think in a way, this almost kills the BIAL expressway idea. The main problem, I am sure (and do hope) all elected or non elected representatives have realized by now was to get people quickly to Hebbal, or in the case of 'planned' BIAL expressway - to get to the starting point (ORR-Hennur). This N-S corridor should do that, get to Hebbal using a bus, rail or car, and switch to a BIAL bus or train. I am thinking checkin counters at Hebbal now(!).

A train on this N-S corridor with an extension till Devenahalli would provide us with good and lasting connectivity to the airport.

Still trying to understand the Kundalahalli to Kodihalli one. This should have scope to extend to Murphy Road, that would give us a networked corridor. Even otherwise, this would be a boon for Whitefield suburban area. But again, a rail on top of this elevated section - would it be a separate commuter rail system or part of Metro Phase 2/3? Where will the rail head to after Kodihalli? Will there be a BMTC TTMC nearby so that I can take the rail or drive up, and then take a Bus to CBD?

I agree with you completely. We have to think beyond Petrol. Does anyone (Mr.CM you too) believe the petrol price will go down? in 2002 it was Rs. 34/Litre now in 2008 is 58 and in 2012 (when say the elevated road is built) its going to be Rs 82/litre at least? Conventional Cars are going to be extremely expensive to run.
The elevated roads could prove worthwhile if we did have BRTS on it? So if it is 4 lanes, then its 2 lanes for cars and 2 lanes for buses. Also ban Autos from going on these as they slow traffic down. The Buses could be electric.
There was a mention of having a 2 tier road with Metro and Road? Feasible?
Why not ditch the idea of Elevated roads and have a very extensive Metro/Mono Rail network? Something that is equivalent to London or Paris?
The solution to the current situation seems to be - Free the Cars, let there be free flowing traffic!
Why cant the solution be: We don't need cars in Bangalore anymore!!

at the outset..advice from an old man..don't believe everything you read in the papers especially..

a)If it is from a politican or beuracrat .b)Especially if it is from a politicaion in the first couple of weeks of taking office.

This is just the time for CM to show the beuracrat who's boss and for him to show the masses( you and me) that he is a "man of vision"

Give me a break ..

am i to believe that this new government , first time in power ,had all the solutions for banglore in their backroom " research " wing and hey presto elevated roads /traffic corridors. fast trains etc all just falls into place by a press conference?

Just wait for the beuracracy in ther own inimitable, real backroom style to start putting their brakes.

But what really upsets/mortifies me is that the the approach is no diffrenet from "lets make bangalore great thro great projects" stuff that all govrnments spill out.

how much greater it would have been ifollowing werre the statements in todays papers.

a)X crores realesed for all footpaths to be cleared and made walkable.

b)Public transport to be privatised .

c)traffic ploice empowered to cancell driving licenece.

d)or... lok ayutka now can prosecute a public servant by name.

In a roundabout way..what I am saying is that the paradigm has not changed , just a more vocal and thrustful message ( but then anyone would have looked good after the last few years of non governance).

But untill , the paradigm of looking at traffic /congestion in bangalore comes from a different non car philosophy , nothing is really going to change...a lot of which is mirrored on praja.

But the eternal optimist that I am ..at least inertia has been broken.

Yes, VMenon, as you pointed out, COngress/BJP/JDs, or even a half bakes kichdi would promise the same. Just spending a lot of crores is hardly a solution.
As we have seen in BIAL, people are simply averse to change. And no politician or civil servant who has the power wants to put his/her self on the line and try an genuine "out-of-the box", life changing idea.
The Majority seem to be horses with blinds, refusing to look sideways!
We in Bangalore, have to change our lifestyles. Yes, it will have teething problems and getting started will be a huge pain - but as many of us have stated that is the ONLY way to change.

I always have been promoting public transport. But, these kind of freeways will attract more and more cars and may result in more and more pollution. Also, there will be mixed traffic of cars, 2 wheelers which in turn may result in accidents on the corridor because of high speeding 4 wheelers. It may also become race track on Friday nights.

I would have been happy if these corridors were identified for new metro or atleast mono tracks.

it appears to be a welcome step; but some things have to be borne in my mind

(1) the aesthetics should be maintained by ensuring a minimum of 150 feet to 200 feet of clear space from the edge of the corridors to the nearest buildings on either side all along their lengths; if required buildings should be destroyed partly or fully on either side and the debris so obtained can be used for corridor construction (ONE WOULD APPRECIATE THIS POINT IF ONE SEES THE RICHMOND CIRCLE FLYOVER WHERE SOME BUILIDINGS ARE KISSING THE EDGE OF THE FLYOVER)

(2) THE COORIDORS SHOULD BE CEMENTED OR RCC SO THAT IT LASTS AT LEAST 50 years WITHOUT ANY MAINTENANCE

(3) THE CORRIDORS SHOULD MINIMUM BE 4 LANES ON EACH SIDE

(4) THE CORRIDORS SHOULD EXTEND THROUGH AND BEYOND BANGALORE'S BORDERS

(5) THERE SHOULD NOT BE EVEN A SINGLE SIGNAL LIGHT ALL ALONG THE CORRIDOR LENGTHS

While elevated roadways may seem car-centric, that need not be the case. They will enable public buses to cross the city quickly, rather than getting stuck in jams.This will encourage the use of buses. Buses have the advantage over metro/monorail that they can provide close to last mile connectivity my going on all major roads of residential layouts.Perhaps with this new roadway, we can have a bus service that crosses the city quickly, without stopping at a central bus stand.

Expressway type things should be good for Buses, no doubt. In fact, on an access controlled, low turbulence, less entropic roads (because these would be better policed), buses too can zip through the city

But for the bus services plying on these expressways to make meaningful difference to the public transport fortunes of the city, it would need some planning and investment. Examples?

Park and Ride or Transit Centers near the "exits" from these expressways

Route planning to make use of these fast corridors. Can't just run silk board to Hebbal services, have to run them from a transit point near Silk Board to another one near Hebbal

Provision for some system of priority to the buses. Can be a carpool/vanpool/bus only lane in each direction, or can be a time controlled bus only lane in the mornings and evenings.

If the expressways run near other modes of public transport (Metro, Commuter Rail), plan amenities for easy interchange. This could be a bus stop on the elevated expressway with lifts to take you down straight to the Metro station.

Basically, dont go by my specific examples, but think similar.

Public transport is not just about buying more buses, or planning a lane on these corridors. It means a lot more things that need planned execution. And money for these things should come from funding of these expressway projects.

Remember what urban development ministry said recently. Transport is about moving people, and not vehicles. Subtle but big difference between the two. How does urban development ministry walk the talk? They can do that by having a people transportation checklist for any road building project they fund or approve.

Coming to think of it, the Kodihalli-Kundalahalli route is the most ideal for a LRT! The current road has a median and has few intersections or breaks (around 15)..

So people using this road are already used to travelling longer stretches to reach a break in the median. Hence ideal for LRT. we can have the kodihalli terminal below the indranagar-IRR-Hal jn(above the drain?)

And as discussed..we can have the kundalahalli jn stn extended to ITPL area catering to a bigger group of users..

This will cost almost the same as that of the elevated road but will help better in..

removing many vehicles from the road

reduce oil/petrol consumption

stress from the road users

managing pollution

LRT like that in Dublin which shares road/track with other vehicles is the most ideal!

I appear to have missed three important suggestions / comments when I first gave my response to the corridor work. I will reproduce the same with the three important suggestions listed in the begining.

(1) BEFORE THEY START THE CORRIDOR WORK THEY SHOULD TAKE SUGGESTIONS / FEEDBACK FROM CITIZENS. (IN FACT THIS SHOULD BE THE COMPULSORY POLICY OF ANY NEW PROJECT OF ANY GOVERNMENT). THEY SHOULD OPEN A WEB SITE FOR THE CORRIDOR WORK AND KEEP IT OPEN FOR A MONTH OR TWO FOR CITIZENS TO OFFER THER SUGGESTIONS / FEED BACK.

(2) THEY SHOULD INVOLVE PRAJA MEMEBRS IN THE DESIGN & IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CORRIDOR WORK

(3) THEY SHOULD CONSTRUCT A SEPARATE BG LANE FOR PEDESTRIANS ON EITHER SIDE ALL ALONG THE LENGTH

(4) the aesthetics should be maintained by ensuring a minimum of 150 feet to 200 feet of clear space from the edge of the corridors to the nearest buildings on either side all along their lengths; if required buildings should be destroyed partly or fully on either side and the debris so obtained can be used for corridor construction (ONE WOULD APPRECIATE THIS POINT IF ONE SEES THE RICHMOND CIRCLE FLYOVER WHERE SOME BUILIDINGS ARE KISSING THE EDGE OF THE FLYOVER)

(5) THE COORIDORS SHOULD BE CEMENTED OR RCC SO THAT IT LASTS AT LEAST 50 years WITHOUT ANY MAINTENANCE

(6) THE CORRIDORS SHOULD MINIMUM BE 4 LANES ON EACH SIDE

(7) THE CORRIDORS SHOULD EXTEND THROUGH AND BEYOND BANGALORE'S BORDERS

(8) THERE SHOULD NOT BE EVEN A SINGLE SIGNAL LIGHT ALL ALONG THE CORRIDOR LENGTHS

You have some good points, but I foresee a few problems in implementing some of your suggestions:

THE CORRIDORS SHOULD MINIMUM BE 4 LANES ON EACH SIDE

Thats a HUGE ask! an 8 lane expresseway is a lot of hand on either side. Aquiring that much land is not a relaistic venture. It will lead to PILs and Stay orders, that will halt the entire project. Instead a 4 lane expressway with no signals will be sufficient. Remeber nobody stops on the elevated expressway. also we dont want anyone over speeding. However it can stretch to a 6 lane road at bus stops for bus bays.

W.r.t Point No.4

Search the entire city you will never find 150 feet of space between any road and a building. If you start destroying building, jeez, this is going to be ONE EXPENSIVE ROAD! Remeber is tax payers ,money, and this much of expense is way too much for a single project.

I would be a lot happier if instead of building this elevated road(s) we built more of the metro. IM(Humble)O I would rather take make an attempt to have a greener healithier solution than a comfortable one.

BART in San Francisco and surrounding east bay has done it. Why can't the authorities at least emulate it. Be friendly to cars and rail. I wish I had a way to sketch things. The train tracks would take up the median/divider and the stations can be built along the expressway at certain exit points with parking facilities. Sure there will be lots of safety issues etc , but that can be dealt with some planning. This is all of course IMHO.

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